Google+ Badge

Follow by Email

Sunday, September 30, 2012

http://deconstructika.etsy.com
It's that time again- the air is crisp and so are the leaves, and it's time to update your wardrobe for fall (or grab some great deals on stuff for next spring!) I've got lots of items I just listed, brand new stuff, going right on sale.
All you have to do is enter the code FALL2012 at the checkout and you'll get 50% off your purchase! Follow link above to my Etsy shop and get to shopping! ;)
Thanks!
-Rosie

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Finally with the cool winds of fall, I feel my life settling down again. It's been a hectic summer, with two moves- first from Arkansas up to Milwaukee, a big change. And then a shorter move from MKE down to Kenosha recently. I guess the big city was a little too wild for us.

I feel like my energies have been getting pulled in different directions all year. A rough spring- my life sort of fell apart. My life in Arkansas, in my little cozy, arty hometown of Eureka Springs, was something that I felt very confident about, but the world turned upside-down, and we felt the need to get far, far away, right away. Milwaukee was pretty far, and we had been there enough times to know we liked it. It was an interesting transition. After we moved, people kept asking me if I had "culture shock", and I can honestly say no, I never did. It's a city, I had been to cities before. There was no initial big shock. What was surprising was the way, over time, that the city sort of ground away at my spirit. I spent a lot of time making contacts and finding people to work with, and trying to make things that would please those people, and losing myself a little on the way. I am admittedly anxious and awkward at meeting new people, so I had a summer of upset stomachs and nervous first-meetings. Then when I finally felt like I had a few friends in Milwaukee, we decided to move down to here to Kenosha, so now I don't know anyone, again. There's a beach though- there is that. And the people here seem very nice...

Now I am networking with people from Chicago and Milwaukee (Kenosha is right in between), and others all over the country. I tried something new recently, sending a new dress off to a photographer in California to shoot. There are many other photographers and models asking me to do this as well- we'll see how this first time goes... it certainly takes a lot of pressure off of me as far as setting up the shoot. Just sew, put it in a box, and wait for the photos to come back.

I have so many ambitious projects I am planning, and having trouble completing them all. I am coming off the tail end of a very bad cold, which I can't help but see as a week of wasted productivity. I hadn't really earned a vacation but I had to rest. It did give me some time to read, which I don't do enough anymore. My husband picked up "The Friday Night Knitting Club" for me at a used book shop and I devoured it. I think my brain needed the nourishment, as well as a nice distraction to thinking about someone else's problems for a couple of days- someone fictional whose problems won't really ever amount to anything- they disappear with the closing of the pages.

I have had the opportunity to work with several amazing photographers this summer, which I will share with you now. They have quite the diverse array of styles.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Just enter the coupon code SUMMERTIME when you checkout to receive a 40% discount! This even applies to items already on sale.... so there are some great savings to be had. Deconstructika.etsy.com
Email me if you have any questions! rosierose71@yahoo.com
Or write me via Etsy.
Thanks! :)

Friday, March 23, 2012

I am getting a lot of questions lately about why I don't have more sizes in my Etsy shop, so I wanted to talk a little about my life and design process, and my plans for my clothing line.

I decided several years ago that I wanted to design clothing, and I began to buy a yard or two of nice fabric when I could afford it, and started to store it away. A little dream began to form, that I might be able to one day have my own clothing line and find success with it. At this point I would define success as having enough sales to be able to grow my business.... which right now means being able to buy yardage of fabric so that I can offer custom order items in any size and several fabric choices. Later down the road success will be being able to support myself and family with my business. Even farther down the road- I dream of my designs being worn on the red carpet or by rock stars... I would love to be like Nudie Cohn and do elaborate one-of-a-kind pieces commissioned by musicians.

I think this is a very hard time to be an artist, especially an artist starting out on a shoestring budget, because materials and art supplies of all kinds have gone up drastically in price in the past 5 years- I venture to say most materials have gone up from 30% - 50%. Really artists should raise their prices accordingly, and perhaps some do, but with the economy the way it is and people everywhere struggling to pay their bills, and being that art is not a necessity for most people, most of us choose to keep our prices as low as we can, make a lower profit margin, and buckle down and work even harder. I hear from many of my artist friends that they too are having a hard time affording materials right now.

Silk has really gone up in price because most silk comes from Thailand and the young people in Thailand are not continuing the mulberry plantations their parents once kept, instead choosing to grow easier and more profitable crops. Silk prices have doubled in the last year. I choose to dye my own silks because it is much more affordable- I can get white silks for a third the price of colored silk, and dye it myself any color I want. This is one of the ways I try to keep my prices as low as possible. Some clothing manufacturers keep their prices down by compromising on their fabrics.... I INSIST on using high quality and for the most part, natural fiber fabrics. I don't see the point of taking the time and care to make a nice garment if the fabric won't last.

Hand dyed silk chiffon ballet skirt in Island Blue

Another way I keep my prices down is by selling my items exclusively on Etsy, which only takes a 3.5% commission off each item, so I can keep my prices much lower than if they were sold in a gallery, which generally takes a 40% -50% commission from each item (basically doubling the retail price of the item).

Now, enough about costs and prices, let's talk design.

Every design I do begins with a drawing. Then I decide colors and fabrics- sometimes I already have a fabric in mind. Then I begin patterning, either draping on a mannequin or flat patterning on the table. I work on the piece until it becomes the drawing.

My sketches for the Poncho Minidress and Obi Belt

The dress comes to life!

Designers generally make a small or x-small sample of a design to begin with because it uses less fabric and most models are that size. Many of the items I have in my Etsy shop are really designer samples or one-of-a-kind pieces which I don't intend to make more of, like these three dresses I did for the 2011 Ozark Couture Spring Show.

Models Sophie Star, Heaven Townsend, Montana Widener

,

photo by Amber Herrera

BUT without further ado, I would like to reveal to you my Basic Line thus far, which I am going to have available soon in all sizes and several fabric choices for each!! In the beginning it will be mostly custom order but hopefully I will also be able to stock a few of each size ready made in my shop.

1. The Upcycled Tank Top... will be available in 7 sizes!! XS, S, M, L, XL, 2X, and 3X. I am also going to offer a version with sleeves.......

2. The Silk Ballet Skirt, 2 skirts in one, which can be custom ordered in any color you can think of and any size. I will also be doing a shorter version. This would be really gorgeous with two complimentary colors layered... fuchsia over purple for instance. I'll be posting more color combos soon. Custom order silk ballet skirt at deconstructika.etsy.com

3. The Silk Ruffle Cami. A simple loose cami top available for custom order in any color combination you like. Right now I am offering it in china silk but I want to try it in stretch silk. The ruffle and straps are sheer silk chiffon. Here's a link to this item on Etsy... Custom order silk ruffle cami at deconstructika.etsy.com

4. The Simple Sweater. Right now I have it in small and medium, but I'll draft a L and XL. I'll be offering a more fitted variation of this in stretch lace for summer.

So there you have it, that's what I am working on right now. Sometimes it seems that making my "line" happen is an unconquerable amount of work and will never happen. I'm doing it in baby steps, of which there are many. I have to make all the patterns, dye the fabrics, cut and sew the designs, with my own two hands alone.

Working in my studio, with my daughter

Then there is the work- fun work, but still, work- of planning photoshoots, which involves getting models and a photographer, and a location.... accessories, hair, makeup, these are all things I have to think about. I'll write another blog on that sometime too.

Heaven doing Sophie's hair before the Lost in the Woods fairytale photoshoot

I have been really fortunate to have an awesome team of people to work with on photoshoots. Amber Herrera has been photographing my designs from the start and her work is impeccable; we work well together and always have a lot of fun shooting together. Sophie Star has been an amazing friend and model for me, and recently has even been assisting me in the design process. Sophie is quite a chameleon, but if you look closely you'll see that most of the photos in my Etsy shop are her. Heaven Townsend has also been a supportive friend and model for me, and at our last shoot she worked some hair and makeup magic as well. One of the wonderful things about live models is they put on the garments, and suddenly a dress I wasn't sure about, I LOVE when I see it on them. They really make the clothing look great. Then add to that Amber's talent with posing models and lighting, and you really have something great. I feel so lucky to have such supportive and talented people around me helping me achieve my goals.

The last step to my work is posting items on Etsy, which can take anywhere
from 10 minutes an item, up to 45 minutes if it's a really special dress
and I am editing and re-editing to make sure it's accurate and concise.
I often go into listings later and change a word or two to make it more
clear. And of course, the true final step is packing items up to ship.

A final thought- when I was eighteen I wanted to be a famous painter. I did some very colorful and ambitious paintings which I am still very proud of.

Untitled painting by Rosie Rose

Now that I have realized the medium I want to work in is fabric, I am still painting.... but this time with people and locations as the canvas, and Amber is really the painter, especially because she does all kinds of magical photo editing to achieve the effect we want. We really collaborate on a vision and make it happen. Thinking back on when I used to do more paintings, my favorite part always was designing the clothing for the subject. These are the "paintings" I work on now...... from our last shoot of my new collection of fairytale inspired dresses, "Lost in the Woods". I have a lot more to say about this collection and I plan to write a blog about the making of each of these four incredible dresses. Stay tuned!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

For anyone who hasn't heard yet, I am having a half off sale in my Etsy store. Just use the code HALFOFF at the checkout. I have sold a lot of things already but there are still plenty of necklaces, earrings, scarves, dresses, tank tops, skirts..... Here's a link to my Etsy shop deconstructika.etsy.com

Also I want to mention that we just did the photoshoot for my new collection of fairytale inspired dresses, "Lost in the Woods". The four dresses were inspired by Snow White, Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, and Alice in Wonderland. They were a lot of fun to make and to shoot, and I will be posting more photos and details about the dresses here soon. For now, you can get a sneak preview of the photos on facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Deconstructika

Thursday, March 1, 2012

For my collection "Lost in the Woods", comprised of fairy-tale inspired dresses, I have hand dyed most of the fabrics. I carefully chose the color palette for each dress and hand dyeing the fabric really lends a magical feel and uniqueness to each dress. Here is the stack of fabrics and lace I dyed for the Alice in Wonderland dress.... cotton jersey, silk and silk chiffon, and gorgeous cotton lace that was really fun to dye.

I really wanted to stay with a pale blue color so the dress has a traditional "Alice" look to it, but the layers of other shade of blue and lavender- which are going to be ruffles on the skirt- are a new spin on baby blue.

This is the fabric for the Goldilocks dress- island blue silk chiffon and cotton jersey, cotton lace, and raspberry silk for the bow.... I sooo love this color palette. It feels very fresh to me.

Stay tuned for more photos as I finish these dresses.....

And the icing on the cake, I am having a having a 50% off sale in my Etsy shop right now to make room for new things. That's deconstructika.etsy.com. Check it out, scoop up a good deal! Use the code HALFOFF at the checkout. :) Thanks!

I am currently working on my new collection called Lost in the Woods, which is made up of four fairy tale inspired dresses. This is the Snow White dress, near completion. It's two layers and the skirt has nearly 12 yards of fabric in it. The back laces up corset style.

Here is a snapshot of me at work handstitching the braid to the straps.

We'll be shooting photos of the dress on a model next week so stay tuned, it will be an amazing shoot! :)

Right now I am having a Spring Cleaning sale in my Etsy shop to make room for all the lovely new things I am going to be posting. Everything is half off! Gee whiz. All you have to do is type in the code HALFOFF at the checkout and you will get 50% off your purchase. Thanks!

Friday, February 24, 2012

I am working an exciting project right now that has been a long time in the making... the "Lost in the Woods" collection, a fairytale-inspired collection of dresses, starring all those famous gals who wound up wandering through the forest, and looking fabulous all the while- Goldilocks, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Alice in Wonderland. It would also be fun to add Hansel and Gretel but I have enough on my plate as it is. I should mention, of course, that these are adult versions of these characters.... Goldilocks the exception who is more like the ultimate spoiled teenager. These are characters who are beautiful and feminine, but also fierce. They do not need a man to rescue them. They may be vulnerable but they are not weak. I find it interesting that so many fairytales follow this common thread of being lost in the woods, searching for something, be it a refuge, a grandmother... in the case of Goldilocks, mischief... and in the case of Alice, a deeper meaning to life- what's beneath the surface of things?

I cast the models for this very carefully. They each have a wonderful quality of the character they portray which made it obvious to me who they should be. I always draw inspiration from the model as a muse so it is an important part of the process for me.

I still have a lot to do, dying fabric, cutting, sewing, fitting, so I foresee the next couple weeks being pretty full up with finishing these dresses. Two are almost finished. Two are barely begun. But I did some good concept drawings today so I think I am going to be on track. A lot of Alice's dress is going to evolve on the mannequin- I know what the skirt is going to be but not the top. The skirt is going to be full length, circular cut, with lots of ruffles of different fabrics in close shades of gray and gray-blue going around it up the whole thing.I just got some beautiful cotton lace for Goldilock's dress which was very inspiring for me.

Here are some photos of the Little Red dress in progress- it's the only one I have taken photos of so far. Would love to hear anyone's comments!

After dyeing the silk chiffon and silk habotai a brilliant flame red, I pressed the fabric and cut out the pieces from the pattern I drafted. The tricky detail of this dress is lots of tiny pleats at the waistline. I had to mark the pleats with pins....

Sewing the pleats was the most time consuming part of this dress. The bodice has a little raglan seam- for lack of a better term- I suppose you could say shoulder yoke- anyway it makes the shoulder fit more nicely and strengthened the shoulder as well because I made it two layers thick.

Then I pinned the main pieces of the dress on the mannequin to see how it looked....

Sexy! But the pleats were going toward the side seam a bit much so I added a triangular insert in the side seam to give the skirt a little more flowiness. And I added the sleeves which will be gathered at the bottom into a band. The bottom of the skirt is going to be sheer red chiffon. At this point I realized the neck facing would show through, so I am finishing it with a band instead. The back has a sexy cutout. There will also be a hood of some sort to complete the ensemble.

I will try to post more photos of my progress on this project but no promises... like I said I have a lot more work to do!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

This is my latest work... the poncho minidress, a short tunic style dress that can be worn with leggings and a belt. Corset and obi belts are sold separately. Some wool and silk scarves for winter and spring. Upcycled tops made from t-shirts and slips. And a really cute little retro punk minidress in red and black check.

Feel free to leave me comments on your thoughts or ideas!

I am planning a fun Valentine's Day giveaway so watch for it!! Coming very soon. Be sure to "like" my facebook page so you can find out about it--- here's the link-